UK pay surge reaches fresh 10-year maximum as employment jumps

12:08 22.01.2019

UK employees’ pay surge reached another 10-year maximum and employment rallied by much more than anticipated for the three months to the end of November due to the fact that the UK labor market was still firm notwithstanding other signs of an economic deceleration ahead of Brexit.

Eventually, average weekly earnings, with bonuses, tacked on by 3.4% on the year, as the Office for National Statistics uncovered on Tuesday. The given outcome turns out to be the biggest jump since mid-2008 and in contrast with a median estimate of 3.3% in a Reuters survey of financial analysts.

Without bonuses, for the three months to November earnings shot up by an annual 3.3%. Adjusted for inflation, the overall pay headed north at the fastest tempo for two years.

For the three months to April, employment inched up by the largest amount. However, it doesn’t clear whether companies are going to maintain hiring at these levels especially considering the already mounting uncertainty around Brexit.

On Monday, Theresa May, UK Prime Minister sought to break an ongoing parliamentary deadlock over Brexit by suggesting to seek further concessions from the EU on a plan to dodge customs checks on the Irish border.

With little time left until Great Britain is due to depart from the European bloc on March 29, there’s no agreement in the UK cabinet on how the country should leave the world’s number one trading bloc. What’s more, there’s a growing probability of a dramatic ‘no-deal’ exit without provisions to soothe the economic shock.

UK companies are reducing investment before the country’s scheduled departure from the EU in late March, leaving the overall British economy soaring at a slow pace.

Moreover, the Bank of England has told it will require lifting interest rates gradually to compensate inflation pressures from the labor market.